Classical Style (music)

I

Introduction

Classical Style (music), musical language developed from the mid-18th century onward by composers Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Compared with the dense and ornate baroque musical language that preceded it, the classical style has a lightness of texture and a clarity of form and structure. Compared with the subjectivity and emotional expressivity of the romantic style that followed, it features objectivity and emotional restraint. Though the classical style transcended national boundaries, its most celebrated proponents were all associated with Vienna, the Austrian capital.

II

Toward the Classical Style

A preference for classical order and organization in art and music emerged in Europe in the middle of the 18th century. In part, this was a reaction against the complexity of baroque styles. But the trend toward simplicity also reflected other influences, among them the excavations of the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy. The discoveries at those sites spurred a revival of interest in Greek and Roman art, outstanding for its symmetry and simple grandeur.

Because the arts of ancient Greece and Rome are termed classical, the 18th-century interest in these art forms is sometimes called neoclassicism—that is, new, or revived, classicism. Architects, painters, and sculptors made direct use of classical ideas. Buildings reflecting those of ancient Greece and Rome were constructed in England, France, and the American colonies. Painters and sculptors chose subjects from Greek and Roman history. The classical ideals of reason, symmetry, and proportion were the ideals of the age. See also Neoclassical Art and Architecture.

In music, however, there was little to revive. Few examples of Greek music have survived, and music theorists have no idea how these pieces sounded in their own time. The musical style that coincided with the neoclassical movement is today called classical rather than neoclassical because it was not an actual revival of earlier music. The music is related in spirit and general style to ancient art.

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In general the new musical styles that appeared during the 18th century emerged either as extensions of or reactions to the mature baroque style. In France the reaction produced the style galant (French for “courtly style”), a graceful, light, often embellished form that used uncomplicated harmonies often in the major mode. French and Italian composers explored this sensuous style, which paralleled the rococo style in the visual arts. The works of French composer François Couperin exemplify the style galant.

Another preclassical style, the empfindsamer Stil (German for “expressive, or sensitive, style”), was popular in German-speaking countries. In contrast to the style galant, it involved unrestrained emotion. Dynamic extremes (extreme variations in loudness and softness) and attention to nuances were typical of the style. Many of the works of C. P. E. Bach demonstrate the empfindsamer Stil.

While the style galant belonged to the aristocracy, the expressive style was essentially middle-class, focusing on sentiments of the individual. Haydn and Mozart merged these two musical languages and brought them to perfection in what we know as the classical style.

III

Characteristics of the Classical Style

The changes in musical language that characterized the classical style focused upon new approaches to melody and harmony. Baroque composers, for example, tended to place the principal melodic interest in the outer voices—that is, the lowest and the highest lines. In instrumental and voice music of the classical style, the prominent baroque bass line (see Basso Continuo) gives way to a bass line that is merely a support for the main melody in the uppermost voice.

A

Melody

The organization of music into carefully articulated phrases that have clear beginnings and ends is an important characteristic of the classical style and contrasts with the continuity of melody in baroque compositions. During the baroque period the basic character of a movement (self-contained section) of music was always consistent: A single melodic subject was stated at the outset and then spun out and articulated through sequential repetition. Most of the melodies in classical music are made up of segments called phrases, which help to cultivate a sense of balance and proportion. An opening phrase of a classical piece generally is followed by a second phrase of the same length that seems to answer or complete the initial phrase, as in the familiar tune “Twinkle, twinkle, little star.”

Some melodies in music of the classical style are patterned after folk songs (see Folk Music), which usually have phrases of regular length. As compositions became more sophisticated in the late 18th century, the lengths of phrases varied. Mozart’s phrases are sometimes irregular in length, but they are very carefully proportioned to the needs of the composition.

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